Bristol Rovers remain in the market for another central striker with intended transfer target Alfie May set to be confirmed as a Charlton Athletic player after undergoing a medical in south west London.
The Addicks are poised to complete the £250,000 signing of the Cheltenham Town frontman, who’s scored 48 goals in the last two seasons in all competitions, and was an active target for the Gas this summer. South London Press report May will sign a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
Bristol Live understands talks were held at The Quarters earlier this week and were deemed positive by both parties, with Rovers willing to match the salary and contract length being offered by Charlton, however a bid was never made once it became clear where May’s preference was.
Cheltenham ideally wanted to start a bidding war between Charlton, Rovers and Gillingham - who offered around £200,000 last week - but the Gas never joined the party as May had made his intentions clear he wished to return nearer to Kent where his family are based.
Born in Gravesend, May started his youth career with Millwall before he was released at 14 and worked his way back into the professional game via the non-league pyramid. Cheltenham paid just £5,000 to sign him from Doncaster Rovers in January 2020 and have been richly rewarded on and now off the field.
It is a blow to Rovers and one of the few targets they’ve been unable to land in this window, with goalkeeper Connor Ripley thought to be another after he elected to move from Morecambe to Port Vale primarily due to geographical considerations.
Defender Lewis Gibson, meanwhile, secured a free transfer to Championship side Plymouth Argyle but the chances of bringing the 22-year-old on a permanent deal were always viewed as remote.
May would have added to an already impressive Rovers frontline which features last season’s top scorer Aaron Collins, John Marquis, Ryan Loft, Scott Sinclair plus new arrivals Luke Thomas and Jevani Brown.
Joey Barton would still like to add another striker to that department to mitigate the loss of Josh Coburn following his loan return to Middlesbrough. The 20-year-old was responsible for 10 goals last season and although he and May are very different strikers, with Marquis and a fit-again Loft more conventional targetmen, May would have provided an added x-factor.
Having regularly switched formation throughout 2022/23, Barton appears to be favouring a 4-3-3 now he has more wide attacking options in his squad, and it was notable the Gas lined up in that system throughout their 9-0 pre-season friendly win over Melksham Town last Friday.
The pursuit of May was with designs on pairing him with Collins and not as a replacement for the Welshman, with Rovers continuing to plan for next season with their star man as part of the squad, unless a significant bid is received.
Social media rumours that have been rampant among the fanbase this week about a potential move to Coventry City are not rooted in any fact as Collins has never been considered a transfer option by the Sky Blues.
There are Championship clubs who retain an interest in the 26-year-old but Coventry are not one of them and the growing impression, at least at this stage of the window, is that Rovers’ high valuation coupled with the lack of spending power in the division above, means the likelihood is he’ll remain at the Mem for the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
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